Mr. Jandrokovic: First of all, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to wish you a very good afternoon and a very warm welcome to Croatia. It is with the greatest pleasure that I welcome among us my colleague, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Hellenic Republic, his Excellency, Mr. Lambrinidis. It is his very first visit to Croatia and we are most pleased to have him with us.
I would like to congratulate Mr. Lambrinidis upon his appointment to the position of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Hellenic Republic and also to congratulate him on his position, former position, of Vice President of the European Parliament, in which position he was extending a strong support to Croatia for the objective of concluding the negotiations and to our accession.
Our two countries enjoy the best of relations. We have no open issues between us and we cooperate successfully within international organizations. Also, we work together on the stabilization of Southeastern Europe and I believe that this meeting will be a further contribution to that objective. I would like to stress particularly our shared concern for the stability of Southeastern Europe. It is also in our common interest that the region be stable and we also believe, both countries believe, that membership in the European Union is the guarantee of stability and economic prosperity. We have also agreed that we shall try, within the scope of our capacities, to assist all countries on their path towards membership in the European Union; all countries of Southeastern Europe, of course.
We have also agreed on economic cooperation, which is quite good but needs to be extended and expanded. The exchange of goods was in the value of 141 million Euros in the course of the last year, but has strong potential for improvement.
I have stressed to my Greek colleague the desirability of Greek investors and that they will be very welcome to our country. I am very happy that the Greek consortium appeared at the bids for the airport and they made it to the short list of five, and we wish them good luck and a good outlook for the future.
We also agreed that cooperation in tourism is what both countries need. It is an industry in which we can see a great deal of improvement. Last year we had about 30,000 Greek tourists in Croatia and we would like to improve on that, not only attracting Greeks to visit Croatia but also sending our people to Greece.
Finally, we discussed the situation in northern Africa and in the Middle East. We exchanged views on the situation and agreed that, if there is need, our two countries could cooperate in order to contribute to the stabilization of that part of the world.
Mr. Lambrinidis: Thank you Gordon. Thank you very much for this wonderful reception. This is, and I am proud that it is, the first capital in a series of countries that I will be visiting in the next few days in the region. That this be the first capital because I wanted to send the message of my great pleasure and great pride that the EU will be welcoming Croatia as an EU Member State. I am proud, I am pleased, because, as Gordon said, for many years, even at the European Parliament, I personally, and my country, fought to make sure that Croatia would be a part of this family.
Let me make one point very clear, however: that the success, the pride, belongs to you, belongs to the Croatian people. No one gave you any gifts. You worked extremely hard. You achieved this great achievement on your own, with our support, but it is a success that belongs entirely to you. It couldn’t have happened if the Croatian people hadn’t made this great effort.
And it couldn’t have happened had the EU not stuck by its commitment to accept Croatia, if it fulfilled the criteria. And I emphasize, in particular, how important it was that you managed this great success in the midst of a difficult time for you, with your scepticism, in some cases, on the rise. With a financial crisis that is not pleasant.
I think that Croatia proved that it deserved to be a full member and I think that Europe also sent a message, and a message to everyone in the region, that if people fulfil their responsibilities, Europe will make them full members. We will work very closely together – this is our goal – in helping the rest of our region integrate into the EU. Greece, as you know, has an agenda to promote this, Agenda 2014, and we were very, very closely in touch with Croatia to coordinate.
We did, of course, talk quite extensively about the Middle East. It is a region in which Europe can contribute remarkably in peace-building at this stage and institution-building.
We talked about economy, as the Minister mentioned, the opportunities for Greek companies and Croatian companies are remarkable and rising. Areas such as tourism are a heavy industry for Croatia and a heavy industry for Greece, and they are complementary. There is absolutely no reason for two countries so close, and so close in spirit, not to cooperate better together to ensure that they can multiply the advantages of a tourism that can cross both our borders.
I would like stress the following. This is my first visit to Croatia. I am sorry I haven’t been here before. It’s not going to be my last. And if my crazy schedule, which is probably as crazy as Gordon’s schedule, allows, I hope to be able to visit Croatia privately and to do so very soon. And I hope that tens of thousands of Greeks will do the same. It’s a remarkable country. I am very pleased to be here. I am very pleased to have been standing by your side all these years and I look forward to working together with you in the future.
Journalist: Both Ministers have discussed the economic situation currently in the European Union and have they discussed the particular economic situation of the Greek country, and cooperation within that frame?
Mr. Lambrinidis: We discussed how Croatia and Greece together can use the economic crisis in Europe as an opportunity for both countries to develop even closer economic ties, and in fact this is an opportunity. In a crisis, serious businessmen often look outwards for opportunities outside of their borders and this is exactly what we are pushing for. Other than that, yes, of course we discussed it, but it is the fate of Foreign Ministers in the middle of a crisis to also be expected to be Finance Ministers. We are not. So, we talked mostly about Foreign Policy. We will have a chance, at dinner tonight, to talk about other issues as well more extensively of course.
Mr. Jandrokovic: I would just continue along the same lines as my colleagues that this was not the central topic or issue of our discussion, but we did mention it. Diplomacy creates the framework for economic cooperation and definitely such cooperation is the desired response to the crisis that we find ourselves in. Also, we believe that this kind of cooperation should be extended to the fields of not only tourism and the energy sector, but also that we could force the work of the Committee on Economic Affairs and Cooperation, which has already met twice, and another meeting should follow soon. This should be an impetus to businesspeople from both countries to step up cooperation and efforts in that direction, and also we think that this cooperation will be further developed. Of course it is up to businesspeople to decide on cooperation, but we trust that there is scope and potential.
Journalist: …the research of the delegation of the European Commission indicates that there is a strong support within Croatia for enlargement of the European Union and how do you then explain the fact that there are many opinion polls which have given quite the opposite result?
Journalist: …in the region. What we need to talk about North Africa and Libya, what role Greece can play there, and I am wondering if you discussed also the relations and developments and the relation between Turkey and Israel?
Mr. Lambrinidis: In terms of Libya I had the opportunity to discuss with Gordon the efforts that we are making as Greece at this stage on the humanitarian front. Just today, Greece sent two airplanes filled with water to Tripoli. We coordinated this effort with the European Union, the European Commission, which has an office there, and I offered to my colleague the coordination and cooperation that we can have together to help the humanitarian crisis today, and he had the chance to inform me about the humanitarian support that Croatia has the chance to develop.
We touched upon issues that have to do with Turkey, the Middle East, Syria, as you can imagine we touched upon everything. I think the conclusion that we both reached is that it is very important for both of us to get a message to all countries in the region: that they have with their actions and their words to promote stability and not to create potential instability in the region, and this is something that I think both of us, in a bilateral context, will continue doing. We are both very supportive of the European integration element for countries in our region, including Turkey, but we are both very firmly committed to ensuring that Europe communicates to those countries that with opportunity comes responsibility, and those responsibilities for good neighborly relations and for stability have to be fulfilled.
September 6, 2011